Summary:The coffin of the holy king Stefan the First-Crowned
was made in 1607 by the "sinful master Antonje" on
commission from Metropolitan Kyr Simeon. Since 1629,
when the king's relics had been placed in it, the coffin
witnessed the tumultuous Serbian history of the 17th and 18th
centuries. Having been repeatedly moved far and wide in the
territory of Serbia and Austria-Hungary, the coffin and the
relics were returned to the monastery of Studenica in 1839.
During World War I, the coffin was relocated once again, to be
eventually placed in Studenica in 1919.

The coffin was subject to the necessary conservation
treatment based on the expert assessment provided by the
Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of
Kraljevo, in cooperation with the responsible institution, the
National Museum in Kraljevo, and with the consent of the
hegumen of Studenica, Tihon. The challenging conservation
procedure, compliant with the current standards of
museological practice, was carried out between November
2017 and November 2018 at the Conservation and
Restoration Department of the Museum of Applied Art in
Belgrade.

After the condition of the wood and inlay elements,
the body of the coffin and the metal casing had been assessed,
all materials used in the making of the coffin were subject to
analysis. Surface cleaning tests were carried out using
chemical procedures adjusted to the type of deposits. The
metal casing and nails were treated with acid. The condition of
the coffin had been documented in detail, after which it was
undertaken to reconstruct the missing fragments and glue
them to the surface.